


Survivor: Newsies

by timetogoslumming



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: But it's here, Survivor AU, no one asked for this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-01 23:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timetogoslumming/pseuds/timetogoslumming
Summary: It's the Survivor AU that no one wanted!Here in Fiji, eighteen Americans come together to compete against each other in the ultimate game. They’ll have to survive the elements but more than that, they’ll have to survive each other. Who will be the one to claim the million dollar prize and the title of sole survivor?





	1. Day 1: The Marooning

“Here in Fiji, eighteen Americans come together to compete against each other in the ultimate game. They’ll have to survive the elements but more than that, they’ll have to survive each other. Who will be the one to claim the million dollar prize and the title of sole survivor?” 

A man in a blue shirt and baseball cap stood at the bow of a large catamaran floating off the coast of a lush island. Scattered around the boat, there were eighteen contestants trying to pay attention to him while sizing up the competition. A tall blond guy’s gaze skitted manically around the group. A girl with curly reddish hair took long looks at each person, drinking them in. A burly, muscular man ignored them all and glared at the water lapping at the side of the boat. A tiny girl with short hair shook her leg. Two older men– some of the only contestants there outside of their twenties or thirties– exchanged a conspiratorial glance. 

At the bow of the ship, Jeff Probst monologued into a camera for a few more minutes before pointing at the beach of the island far in the distance. “On that beach, there are four puzzles set up. The first four people to reach the puzzles will compete against each other. The first two to finish will be the first to receive an advantage in this game. Survivors ready? Go!” 

As one, the competitors leapt from the side of the ship. A few struggled to wipe the salt water from their eyes and blow the water from their noses, but others pulled ahead on the long swim. Boats and drones full of cameras and lifeguards followed them. An older man and woman dragged behind while a few of the younger guys and the tiny girls shot ahead. They churned the ocean water, somehow managing to ignore the sting of the water in their eyes and the burn from the exertion in their muscles. 

The burly, stoic man was the first to make it to the beach, followed by the tiny girl, the tall blond guy, and another man with brown hair and a tattoo peeking out of the arm hole of his soaked tank top. They raced across the sand to four tables, where there was a piece of wood shaped somewhat like a tree trunk standing in the middle of abstractly-shaped puzzle pieces on each table. Behind them, the stragglers made it to the beach, no longer propelled by desperation. A few collapsed onto the sand to catch their breath. 

The tiny girl working on the puzzle was quickly getting frustrated. None of the pieces seemed to want to fit onto the wooden trunk. The ones that she did manage to place didn’t slide in quite as effortlessly as they probably should have. Next to her, the man with the tattoo was flying through the puzzle. He caressed the edges of each piece, quickly but carefully choosing each one before sliding them home on the trunk. It was taking the shape of a tree. 

To his right, the burly guy was watching his progress out of the corner of his eye. Every time he found the home for a puzzle piece, the shorter, muscular man copied him. As the tattooed man finished easily in first place, the shorter one was only two pieces behind him and easily took second place. 

Jeff Probst, who had beaten them all to the beach in a speedboat, held up his hands. “We have our winners!” He motioned to the two winners as the rest of the group gathered around behind them. “What’s your name?” Jeff asked the tattooed man who came in first.

“Jack,” he replied brightly, beaming. 

“And yours?” Jeff asked, looking toward the runner up. 

“Spot.”

“Is Spot a nickname?” Jeff knew exactly what Spot’s real name was. He probably knew Spot’s social security number. But he was here to make good television. 

“Don’t worry about my real name.” Spot had a deep New York accent and a permanent scowl. He wore a soaking wet red tshirt with the word “Brooklyn” splayed across the front. 

“Alright!” Jeff rubbed his hand together. “You two came in first so you’re going to be our team captains. It’s a schoolyard pick’em.” From his pockets, he pulled two pieces of fabric– one red and one blue. He tossed the blue one to Jack and the red to Spot. “Jack, you’ll be choosing for the Suva tribe. Spot, you’ll be picking for the Lami tribe.”

The rest of the cast lined up at the instruction of the producers on site and Jack, who had come in first, chose first. He pointed at the tall blond guy who had worked on the puzzle, who introduced himself as Race. Spot pointed at the short girl, who introduced herself as Smalls. Race chose next. He pointed at the girl with reddish hair. “What’s your name?” Jeff asked her. 

“Katherine,” she replied before taking a red Buff and joining the Suva tribe. Smalls chose a lanky ginger boy who introduced himself as Albert. The schoolyard pick progressed quickly. A tall, pale man named David and a short boy who introduced himself, inexplicably, as Crutchie, were the next to join Suva. A quiet girl named Hannah and a bubbly guy named Romeo joined Lami. Suva rounded out its membership with Blink, who wore an eyepatch, Mush, Specs, and finally, an older woman named Medda. Lami took Henry, Sarah, Joseph, and finally, one of the older men, who introduced himself as Snyder.

“You’ll have a chance to get to know your new tribe soon enough,” Jeff said. “But first, you have to make your first real choice as a tribe. One person from each tribe will be chosen to go to a separate location and make a decision. They can let you know what that decision, or they could choose to keep it a secret. They’ll meet you at your new tribe beach afterward. Take a minute to decide who that person will be.”

Each tribe huddled up. They didn’t know each other well enough for anyone to be particularly outspoken, and no one wanted to take on a leadership role this early. In the Suva tribe huddle, a group of people wearing red Buffs debated the merits of different people going. “Maybe they’re deciding who gets what camp,” Crutchie suggested. 

“Maybe it’s a food thing.”

“Maybe they get to pick an advantage.”

Finally, Medda gathered a handful of sticks from the ground and broke them evenly, with one stick about half an inch shorter, before holding them evenly in one hand. Everyone drew a twig and compared sizes. The tall blond man, Race, had the shortest stick. 

Off to the side, Jeff waited for the tribes to come to a consensus. When they both seemed to have made a decision, he asked each tribe who would be going. Race and Spot raised their hands. “Okay, step over here.” Jeff had them step to the side before tossing each tribe a rolled up map. “Those maps will get you to your camps.” He took another map and handed it to Spot, who was standing closest to him. “And this will take you to your meeting place.”

When they were dismissed, each tribe left in a wash of chatter, getting to know each other, expressing their excitement about being on Survivor, and complaining about the massive mosquitos that had already begun to attack them. 

Spot and Race started down a narrow path through the woods together, speaking very little. “So, uh…” Race started, attempting to make conversation as they walked over a bridge made of bamboo. “Why  _ are _ you called Spot?” 

“Why are  _ you  _ called Race?” Spot retorted. 

“Because I was a runner,” Race replied simply. “Your turn.”

“I just am.” 

“Alright, fine.” They fell back into silence for a while as they walked. The path had been tamped down, probably by the producers as they prepared the island for the game, so it was easy to traverse. “Pretty weird, being on the show.” There was a producer and a guy with a camera following along behind them, but it didn’t look like they were being filmed at the moment. They probably wanted to wait until they actually got to wherever they were going before filming. 

“Yeah, weird.”

The trail wasn’t long and soon, they came to a small clearing near a craggy rock outcropping. There were two tables there. One held four massive canvas sacks while the other held two smaller sacks and two scrolls of paper. A sign was attached to a tree nearby. 

As soon as they reached the clearing, the camera started to record. There were only five words written on the sign, which Race read out loud. “Your choice must be unanimous.”

Spot poked at one of the larger bags. “That’s rice in there,” he said confidently. He poked another one. “And… beans, maybe.”

Race did the same with one of the smaller bags. “This is rice, too. So we have to pick between big bags of rice and beans or a smaller bag of rice and… what’s that?”

“Have you even seen the show?” Spot asked. “Those’ve gotta be idol clues.” One of the scrolls of paper was tied with a red ribbon while the other was tied with blue. They quietly contemplated the two bags of rice. Spot picked up the smaller one and weighed it in his hands. “This is still a pretty big bag,” he said. 

Race nodded. “I mean, I won’t tell if you don’t.” Spot shifted the bag of rice to one hand and held out his other, which Race shook. “Okay, we should get our stories straight. What was the other option.”

“A smaller bag and an idol clue,” Spot suggested. “Keep it simple.”

“Not a word to  _ anyone _ .”

“It’s our secret.”

“I’ll see you at the tribe swap?” Race asked hesitantly. 

“If you can make it that far.”

 

Back at camp, a boat dropped Race off on a beach. It looked like the Suva tribe had just arrived. The sand was clean and soft, the water was clear and calm, and the jungle beyond the beach was thick. Race held up the bag of rice triumphantly. The clue was safely tucked inside the waistband of his underwear.

The tribe cheered and gathered around him. “What was the choice you had to make?” Jack asked. 

“There was this bag of rice on one table, and then a smaller bag– kind of the size you’d get from a grocery store, you know?– and a piece of paper on the other one. I’m guessing an idol clue. So we had to pick unanimously whether we’d get the big bag or the little one and the clue.”

“So you just left the clue there?” David asked. He didn’t look entirely convinced. 

“I thought about taking it for a minute there,” Race lied. “But you know, I’ve watched the show a lot. They’ve gotten really lazy about hiding idols. People usually find them without a clue on the first day anyway, and I’d rather not starve.”

The rest of the tribe seemed to take what Race said at face value, but David watched him carefully, scanning for any sign of something in his pocket. The tribe went back to what they had started when Race arrived– gathering bamboo and palm fronds to make a shelter. There were a couple of machetes that had been left out for them, which Blink, Mush, and Specs took into the jungle. Crutchie and Medda went back to weaving palm fronds as tightly as they could to create some semblance of a roof for a shelter. 

“I bet we could make pillows like this,” Jack said. “Weave palm fronds, stuff them with something soft.”

“We don’t have time for that,” Katherine replied. “We’ve got to get a basic shelter up before nightfall. Unless you just feel like sleeping out in the open. I would rather not.”

“I didn’t say we had to do it  _ right now _ .”

“We need to stay focused.”

Jack gestured to the pieces of bamboo that he was laying across the frame of the elevated floor that they had built. “I’m focused!” 

As they worked, Katherine found herself taking charge. “Make sure all of the bamboo is even. Wait, Specs. Are those the same size? The one in your right hand looks a little longer.”

“Yeah,” Specs replied sarcastically. “Let me whip out my measuring tape real quick and check.” He dropped the two pieces to the ground and turned back to the jungle to find more. 

The shelter came together quickly, but the work was sloppy. Katherine’s demands were based on absolutely no experience with shelter-building, which the group quickly realized. The floor was deemed “good enough” by Jack, who sat on it and wiggled some. Even under his weight alone, the supports in the loose sand wobbled a bit. “That’s not ‘good enough’!” Katherine snapped. “It’s about to collapse under just  _ your _ weight. There’s no way that’ll hold all of us.”

“Katherine,” Medda said, looking up from the fronds that she was weaving. “Will you walk with me for a minute? We need to get some more fronds.” Katherine followed Medda down a narrow path where they started to gather branches that Mush had cut down. “You need to chill.”

“Me? I’m just trying to make sure we have a good shelter.”

“When all those boys sleep on that platform tonight and it collapses under them,  _ then  _ they’ll know you’re right. But you’re not doing yourself any favors right now. Eventually someone’s going to be the first person voted out and you don’t want it to be you. Just watch your mouth.”

 

The shelter came together as the day wore on. Once they had enough palm fronds and bamboo chopped down to finish, Specs and Blink started working on getting a fire going. They kneeled in the middle of the beach over a pile of coconut husks, holding Specs’ glasses at an angle to catch the sunlight. A thin beam of light reflected onto the coconut husks and they waited with bated breath for it to catch. “It’s starting to cloud up,” Blink whispered, as though he might scare the sun away by speaking too loudly. Clouds had started to move in, but none had covered the sun yet. If they could just get a spark going, it wouldn’t matter. 

The coconut husks under the pinpoint of light started to smoke faintly, with thin tendrils dancing their way into the air. “Come on, come on,” Specs muttered, adjusting his glasses to catch more of the sunlight. The smoke continued and the tiniest glowing ember surfaced beneath the light from the glasses. “ _ Yes _ !”

With some coaxing from Blink, the ember grew to a small flame about the size of a birthday candle’s flame. He reached to adjust the coconut husks but a short gust of wind hit it at the same time and as suddenly as it appeared, the flame went out. “No!”

A few people who overheard their shortlived excitement jogged down the beach. “Do you have a fire?” Mush asked. 

“No,” Blink replied. He readjusted the coconut husks to get ready to try again, but the wind was beginning to pick up, bringing more clouds along with it. 

“There’s not enough light left,” Specs said, replacing his glasses on his face. “We’ll have to try again later when it clears up.”

 

“I’m going to go find some coconuts,” Race said, standing up from the base of a tree where he had been helping to weave palm fronds. 

“Do you need any help?” Crutchie asked. 

“Nah, I got it.” He ducked into the treeline, pushing through the woods to the trail toward the well. Once he was out of eyeshot of the rest of the tribe, Race pulled the scroll of paper from the waistband of his underwear and, after a quick look around, unscrolled it and read the clue.  _ The treasure you seek will be up a creek _ . It was straightforward enough. There was a stream running near the main trail that led to a lagoon deep enough for swimming. He diverted his path from the trail to the stream, where he stood on the bank, looking up and down for a spot that could be a likely hiding place for a hidden immunity idol. If he could find it, the idol would provide him with immunity at the tribal council of his choice. Idols had the power to completely change the game. 

Race started toward an outcropping of roots on the bank of the creek where something could be hidden, but stopped short at the sound of footsteps coming toward him. He turned to see David walking up the path. “What’s up?” David asked. 

“Just looking for coconuts,” Race said. 

“Huh.” David pointed toward the east, where a copse of coconut trees stood out in stark contrast, littering the ground with fruit that had fallen. “Coconut trees are over there.”

“Oh! I guess I’m not that good at… uh… recognizing them. Thanks, I can take it from here!” 

“No, I can help you,” David replied, crossing his arms and making no move to leave. 

“That’s not necessary. I can handle it.” Race started to panic internally. David was onto him.

“Don’t be silly. I’ll help you gather them. Four hands are better than two, right?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” Reluctantly, Race tore himself away from the stream and started toward the coconut trees. David followed him closely. 

“There sure are a lot of little nooks and crannies out here,” David commented as they cut coconuts down from the trees. “Lots of places for something to hide.” He paused, waiting for a reaction from Race, but got none. “Like a snake. Wouldn’t want to go sticking your hand into places. You might get bitten.”

“You’re right,” Race replied. “Good call.”

 

Back at the camp, Jack had taken it upon himself to work on building a table in the sand using bamboo supports. He dug a moat around a rectangular block of sand big enough for the entire tribe to sit around and started to work bench seating into the walls of the moat. Katherine came by with some more bamboo and a coconut shell that she had worked into a sort of makeshift shovel to help. “It’s looking pretty good,” she said. “Are you sure we’re above the tide line?”

“Yeah,” Jack replied. He pointed at a clear line across the beach marked by broken shells and clumps of kelp. “That’s the highest the tide goes.”

“What about rain?”

Jack squinted at the sky, where more clouds had started to blow in as the day progressed. “I hadn’t really considered that,” he admitted. Katherine rolled her eyes. “I’m just trying to make this place liveable!” 

“You might be wasting your time, but at least you’re doing  _ something _ .” Jack nodded. Without waiting for any kind of segue, Katherine pushed into talk about the game. “Anyone here you feel particularly close to yet?” They were far enough away from the rest of the tribe that if they spoke softly, no one else would be able to hear.

“I don’t know,” Jack replied. “We haven’t had a lot of time to talk, you know? Everyone seems really cool. Medda seems really nice. And that guy, Crutchie. And,” he continued, looking up at Katherine through long, dark eyelashes. “I really like  _ you _ so far.”

Internally, Katherine laughed at how ridiculous it was that Jack already seemed to be trying to flirt his way into his good graces, but she just flipped her hair to the side and smiled back at him. “I mean, I like you, too,” she said. “I just don’t know how long people will keep me around, you know?”

“Why?”

“Well, Medda and I are the only women. It seems like all of you boys would try to gang up on us and take us out.”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t want that,” he said. “I’d like to get to know you better.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. If I can do anything, I’ll make sure you stick around.”

“Thank you. I’ll do the same for you.” As an afterthought, Katherine rested her hand on Jack’s arm, trying to take advantage of a classic move.

 

David took a walk by himself just before dark. He needed a bit of time alone to think. Down the beach, there were some rocky outcroppings jutting into the ocean. It was low tide, and the tide pools were teeming with life. Gently, he stroked the arm of a starfish suctioned to the side of an underwater rock. 

He kept walking until he came around a bend and could no longer see the camp. David found a spot on the sand to sit and picked up a stick. He drew the first initial of different people in the tribe in the sand and started connecting them with lines, joining together different friendships that he had noticed beginning to form. It was all a numbers game, David knew. If he could just get in with enough people to survive tribal council, then he was on his way. Race was dangerous, and he wanted to keep Race close. It would only be a matter of time before Race found a hidden immunity idol, if he hadn’t already. 

The sound of soft footsteps crossing the sand startled David out of his strategizing and he mentally snapped a picture of the sand chart that he had made before hurriedly wiping it away. He picked the stick up and started doodling aimless swirls in the sand just before Jack came around the bend. “Mind if I join you?” Jack asked. David gestured to the spot of sand next to him, and Jack took a seat. “What are you doing out here?”

“Just taking a break,” David replied. “Taking it all in.”

A wave crashed against a rock in front of them, spraying them with sea water. “It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?” Jack said as he watched the water. The nearly setting sun reflected brilliantly against the water with sparking orange and pink mixing with the clear blue of the ocean. 

“Gorgeous.” Jack smoothed out a bit of sand in front of him and picked up another stick. David thought at first that Jack was doodling random shapes like he was, but the shapes began to come together in a rough depiction of the scene just in front of them. “You’re an artist?”

Jack didn’t look away from the landscape. “I’m a painter. It’s just a hobby, though. I’m not good enough to be a professional, or anything.”

“Better than I can do.” David gestured to the swirls that he had made in the sand.

“What made you come out here?” Jack asked suddenly.

“Oh, uh… I mean, the money is nice. But it’s kind of the culmination of a lifetime dream, you know? I’ve been watching this show for basically as long as I can remember.”

“Me too,” Jack said with a grin. “I don’t even have a TV, but I make it work.” 

“What’s your tattoo?” David asked, gesturing to the brightly colored ink peeking out from the edge of Jack’s tank top. 

Jack pulled the back of his sleeve aside, revealing a warmly colored, almost cubic design. “It’s supposed to be like the rock formations out west. Do you have any?” David bit his lip, almost embarrassed, before lifting the side of his shirt. On his ribcage, there was a vibrant tattoo of the Slytherin crest. “Seriously?” Jack asked with a laugh. 

“I like Harry Potter, okay?” David said defensively. 

“That’s cool! Slytherin, huh? I’m going to have to watch out for you.”

“Guess so.”

“Hey, Davey,” Jack said suddenly. 

“David.”

“Davey.”

“Whatever. What?”

“You know this game pretty well, right?” 

David nodded. “I’d hope so, after all this time.”

“Okay, good,” Jack continued. “So do I. You seem really cool, Davey. I like you.” A camerawoman that had followed them out to the beach came in a little bit closer and Davey and Jack did their best to ignore her. “Maybe I’m coming out of the gate too fast, but I just wanted to ask… would you maybe want to be in an alliance?”

“What, you and me?” David asked. 

Jack nodded. “Yeah. I mean, probably some more people. Two people doesn’t really cut it. But yeah, you and me at the core of it. Try to take each other to the end, you know? What do you think?”

“I think that sounds great.” David’s heart leapt slightly. A final two alliance on day one. That was the goal. It didn’t hurt that Jack was, he noticed, very attractive– not that that mattered. “You’ve got a deal.” David stuck his hand out and Jack took it. They shook, lingering on the handshake for just a second too long.

Jack reached down and rubbed the landscape that he had been scratching into the sand away before standing up. He reached out a hand to help David up. “We should probably get going. The tribe might think we’re out here striking up power couple alliances or something.”


	2. Day 2: Dive Masters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two tribes square off in their first immunity challenge. Race continues his search for a hidden immunity idol.

The Suva tribe did not sleep well, just like Katherine predicted. As soon as the entire tribe tried to lie down on the shelter, the entire structure collapsed. Medda and Katherine shared a look before dragging a few sheets of woven palm fronds away to sleep on. All night, the tribe was kept awake by crabs and sand bugs biting and pinching them. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, as Jack swatted away a tiny crab, he mumbled, “We’ll fix it tomorrow.”

 

There was a challenge the next day. They were brought to a separate part of the island, where a long, floating platform waited in the water. A third of it was painted red, a third was blue, and a third was left as blank wood. The two tribes were instructed to swim out to the platform, where Jeff Probst was waiting. “Morning,” he said cheerily after both tribes were in place. “Jack, how did you guys sleep last night?”

“I’ve had better nights,” Jack replied. He held out an arm, which was covered in pink bug bites. “But the mosquitoes ate well last night.”

“And Albert, did you guys manage to get a fire going?” 

A tall guy with red hair on the Lami tribe nodded. “Yeah, Joe got one going. It went out when it started getting windy, but we at least got some water boiled.”

“Specs,” Jeff said. “Did you all get a fire?”

“Not yet, Jeff.”

“How’s it feel, knowing that the other tribe has water and you don’t?”

“Not great,” Specs replied. “I think we’re all pretty thirsty by this point.” The rest of the Suva tribe nodded. 

“Today you’ll be taking turns to dive down, following a rope to the sea floor. Attached to the rope, there will be six buoys. You’ll untie the buoys and bring them back to the platform. Once all of your buoys are back to the platform, you’ll try to shoot them into those baskets.” He pointed toward two baskets about fifteen feet away from the platform. “First tribe to get all six buoys in wins.

“Wanna know what you’re playing for?” After both tribes cheered, Jeff walked to a pole, upon which something was covered with a sheet of brown cloth. He tore the fabric away, revealing a crude statue of a person. “Immunity is what you seek. The tribe that wins this won’t be going to tribal council. The losing tribe has a date with me. In addition,” he pulled a small silver rectangle from his pocket. “Fire in the form of flint. Worth playing for?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay. I’ll give you a moment to strategize.” Each tribe huddled up, gauging who would be best at swimming to the deepest buoys, who would be fastest, and who would be the best at shooting into the baskets. When they were ready, the tribes stepped into formation on their platforms. Jeff held up an arm. “Survivors ready? Go!” 

At the same time, Jack and Albert dove into the water. Jack used the rope to pull himself downward, passing several buoys as he went. It was deeper than he expected, and he could already feel his air supply leaving him. He stopped at the fourth buoy, quickly trying to untie the complicated knot. Through the water, he could hear the muffled voices of his tribe yelling encouragements while Jeff commentated. Jack started to panic, thinking that he might run out of air before the knot came undone but just before his lungs gave out, the knot released, the buoy shot upward to the surface of the water, and Jack swam toward the surface. As soon as he crested the surface of the water, Jack gasped for air and grabbed for the buoy. David and Race held out hands to help him back up onto the platform. “It’s really deep,” he said, chest heaving. 

Mush dove in next. Having been a champion swimmer all throughout high school and college, he propelled himself easily down the rope, all the way to the last buoy. The knot was tight, but he managed to untie it quickly, allowing the buoy to spring to the surface. The Lami tribe had gained a slight lead during Jack’s turn, but Mush closed the gap so that by the time Katherine jumped in, she and Spot were diving at the same time.

A few seconds later, Katherine surfaced. “And Katherine brings up another buoy for the Suva tribe. Half of their buoys are up, and Lami is going for the fourth now.” She dragged herself onto the platform while Medda jumped in. She barely had to dive below the water to untie the closest buoy, as the tribe discussed. Her long fingernails, not yet broken from the hard elements of Survivor, helped her rip through the knot, releasing the buoy within a matter of seconds. “And Suva is up with their fourth buoy!”

Blink dove in, followed by Race. They both released their buoys quickly, but Lami maintained a lead. As soon as the buoys were all up, Mush, David, and Crutchie started throwing them toward the baskets. Mush sank the first one easily, and Crutchie got a second. David lined up his shot, but the buoy bounced off the rim. Jack dove into the water to collect the missed buoys, which he tossed back to the platform. 

The Lami tribe’s progress had screeched to a halt. By the time Suva had three of the six buoys in, they only had one. David made one particularly clean shot just as Romeo sank a ball into the Lami basket. Off to the side, the members of the Suva tribe who weren’t currently participating cheered, jumping up and down, more and more excited and frantic. It came down to the last ball and Lami started to catch up with three buoys in their basket. David took a shot and missed, but Crutchie took his time to aim, testing the weight of the buoy in his hand. When he threw, the buoy seemed to hover in midair for a few moments before hitting the rim of the basket. The tribe held their breath as it bounced, hitting the rim of the other side. It bounced again but this time, the buoy went into the basket. 

“Suva wins immunity!” Jeff yelled over the cheering tribe. Mush did a backflip into the water. The Lami tribe hung their heads. Race caught Spot’s eye, and saw that Spot was scowling. “Someone come get this.” He held out the immunity idol, which Medda stepped forward to grab, as well as the flint. “Lami, I’ve got nothing for you. I’ll see you for tribal council tomorrow night. Grab your stuff, head back to camp.”

 

The Suva tribe celebrated back at their camp by starting a fire. Katherine and Specs made a small fire pit by digging out an area and surrounding it with rocks before filling the pit with coconut husk. Specs scraped at the side of the first starter stick with a machete for a few minutes until a spark latched onto the coconut husks. They worked quickly, adding more kindling and tinder onto the tiny flame while guarding it against the breeze and soon, there was a merrily crackling fire. Jack and Race filled a pit with water from the well, which they placed over the fire to boil. 

“I think we’re going to go try to fish,” Mush said, gesturing between himself and Blink. 

“With what?” David asked. 

Blink held up a sharp stick that he had whittled. “I’m going to try to spear some.”

“Well, good luck.”

The people who weren’t fishing set out to fix the shelter. This time, they listened to Katherine’s advice, although she wasn’t quite so bossy about it. It took most of the day but they ended up with a solid platform. The roof still needed work– large holes were visible through the woven palm fronds– but they would be able to fix that the next day. 

Mush and Blink didn’t have a lot of luck with fishing. They couldn’t get the right kind of leverage behind the makeshift spear to catch anything. There were a few large clams that Blink dragged from the ocean floor, and Mush managed to catch a few clams. They brought them back to the camp, where they cooked the food over the fire. Everyone’s spirits were significantly higher than they had been in the morning, knowing that they now had clean water and a solid surface upon which they could sleep. 

Medda sat on a log that they had rolled next to the fire pit, tending to the flame. As she worked, she hummed to herself, which soon turned to her quietly singing to herself. “With folks like me on the job from 9 to 5. Working 9 to 5 what a way to make a living. Barely gettin' by, it's all taking and no giving…”

Specs jumped in, and Medda smiled at him, singing louder. “They just use your mind And they never give you credit. It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it.” With some encouragement, the majority of the rest of the tribe joined in. 

Nearby, Race squirmed uncomfortably on another log. “You good?” Jack asked him. 

“Yeah,” Race replied. “Just got a bit of an upset stomach. It’s no big deal, just the change in diet, you know?” He stood up. “I think I’m going to go take some time in the woods, if you catch my drift.”

“You need company?”

Race fixed Jack with a very serious stare. “I want you to think about what you just offered. This is something that I have to do alone.” Jack turned slightly red as Race walked into the woods. 

He made sure that his gait was something akin to a waddle until he was sure that he was out of eyeshot of the rest of the tribe before hurrying toward the stream. The sounds of Dolly Parton songs grew quieter until all he could hear was the sounds of the jungle. “Up a creek,” he muttered to himself. He knew he didn’t have long before someone (probably David) got suspicious, so Race immediately started looking for a place where something could be hidden along the banks of the creek. There were a number of crevices which, after poking in them to make sure there was no snake inside, he checked, but came up empty-handed. 

He almost made it to the lagoon, which marked the end of the stream, when he noticed a tree with a vast root system on the other side of the bank. It was a fairly narrow section and Race managed to jump across the expanse of the creek easily. He knelt and peered into the crevices left by the root system and something wrapped in burlap caught his eye. Race’s heart leapt and he reached for the package, which he unwrapped. 

_ Congratulations _ , a note inside read.  _ You have found a hidden immunity idol. This idol can be played at tribal council before votes are read and will negate any votes against the user. This may only be used up until the final five. _ Under the note, there was a carving of a person, similar to the tribal immunity idol, hanging from a cord. Race checked again that no one was around before turning to the woman with a camera that had followed him. “I found the idol,” he hissed, brandishing it for the camera. He put the necklace on, relishing in the sensation of the carved stone against his bare chest. Race did a quick dance in celebration before removing the necklace and stuffing it into his pants. 

 

The good mood at camp that evening was dampened (literally) by a sudden, heavy rain storm. The Suva tribe huddled in their shelter, staying close to try to keep warm. The usually balmy climate had turned wet and cold, and they were only getting colder the wetter they got. David shivered in between Jack and Mush. Most of them only had shorts and t-shirts to wear. Jack and Blink only had tank tops. Crutchie had at least thought to wear long pants but even those didn’t help once they were thoroughly soaked. 

“Tomorrow,” Katherine said as it grew dark, teeth chattering, “We need to fix this roof.” 


End file.
